Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Sam Milsap's letter to Texas Board of Parons and Paroles

I am writing to urge you to recommend clemency in the Kenneth Foster case. I am no wild-eyed, pointy-headed liberal. I am the former elected BexarCounty District Attorney (1983-1987); I am responsible for the prosecution ofmore than a few death penalty cases all of which produced convictions andexecutions.

Because you have been buried with letters from throughout the world, I willnot rehash the facts and legal problems with the case in this letter; they are obvious. There is nothing I can say about the legal issues or evidencethat you have not already heard ad nauseam.

Fortunately, I was no longer the Bexar County District Attorney when this horrible crime was committed. Had I been, there is every likelihood that Iwould have decided to seek the death penalty against Foster because I could havedone so--and that would have been a mistake. With the benefit of 20 additional years of life experience, I now believe that no useful purpose is servedand it is morally wrong to execute a person based on nothing more than thelaw of parties.

Is there no limit to our lust in this state for retribution? How many peoplemust we execute for this crime before justice is served? Having alreadyexecuted the shooter, what benefit results from the execution of someone who wassimply nearby and had no idea that a murder would be committed? As thecivilized world watches in amazement that a single American state has executed400 people in the last 25 years, what does it say about us? if we're willing toexecute someone who was in the car when this horrible crime was committed? Surely, there is a limit to what we are capable of in this state.

There are tough cases and there are easy cases. This is an easy case. If wecan't say no to execution in a case like the Kenneth Foster case, there is no practical limit to our thirst for vengeance. I urge you to recommend thatthe Governor grant clemency in this case.